Buckle.



No. 878,288. PATENTED FEB. 4, 1908.

E. N. HUMPHREY.

BUCKLE.

APPLICATION I ILED JULY 1. 1907'.

= with the two ends of a belt or webbing to UNITED STATES PATENT @FETCHERNEST N. HUMPHREY, OF NEW .llltl'lA iN, GONNE(VflCli'l, ASSIGNOR TO FRAU'l d' l'l'lNli] MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEW Bll'lAlN, CONNECTICUT, AUORPOR'IION Ol? CONNECTIC U'l.

BUCKLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 4, 1908.

To all whom it may concer/n:

Be it known that 1, lCuNEs'r N. PHREY, a citizen of the United States,residing at New Britain, in the county of llartford and State ofConnecticut, have invented eertain new and useful Improvements iuBuckles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in buckles and the objects of myimprovements are simplicity and economy vin construction and convenienceand efficiency in use.

1n the accompanying drawing z-Figure 1 i is a front elevation of mybuckle together I llUM- which the buckle is applied. Fig. 2 is asectional View of the same on the line a a; of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a rearelevation of the buckle without the webbing. Fig. 4 is a sectional viewof the same on the line ly 1 1/ of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a plan View of theblank from which the frame of my buckle is made. Fig. 6 is a detachedplan view of the slide for my buckle. My buckle consists of two parts,viz: a frame and a slide. The frame A is formed lwith side bars 7, endbars S and 9 and middle bar 10. The side bars have grooves or waysformed in their confronting inner edges within which the slide ismounted to slide longitudinally to the side bars. 1 prefer to form thisframe of sheet metal from a blank substantially such as shown in planview F ig. 5. This blank before folding or bending upon itselfsubstantially in the line of the edge of the end bar 8 is practicallyTtwo frames each having a middle bar and end bar that are broughtsubstantially together in the completed frame so that the two middlebars of the blank form the one middle bar 10, and the two end barstogether form the end bar 9 while the bar S which is substantially inthe middle of the blank becomes thegend bar S of the frame and is of asingle thickness only, inl stead of being formed of two thicknesses likei the bars 9 and 10. The side bars 7 are also formed in two thicknessesby doubling one 1 piece upon itself, but one end of this piece is l madewider in the blank than its other end in l order that the outer edge ofthe wider portion i i may be bentinto the side flanges l1 at the outeredges ofthe side bars 7 to cover or con- 'fine the ends of the slidewhich carries the sliding bar 12 within the ways of the said l sidebars. I The blank is provided with lugs 13 at two corners which lugs areturned over on the end bar E) to hold the two thicknesses of the metalin said bar together. These two thicknesses of the end bar El maj.' restone Upon the other, but the two thicknesses of the side bars 7 from theend bar t; to the middle bar 10, will be left open a little so as toadmit the ends of the slide between them. The slide is substantially aplate with a central opening 14, lfig. l-, that forms the .said slideinto a frame composed of two end bars, l5, a toothed sliding bar 12, anda linger bar 1G. The end bars 15 are guided within thc ways of the frameso that the slide may move therein to carry the toothed edge of thesliding bar to and from the inner edge of the end bar 8. The slide isprevented from being pulled out of the frame by the metal at that end ofthe side bars 7 where the blank is doubled upon itself. i

One end 17 of the webbing or elastic B is passed around the middle barl() of the frame and secured thereto in any ordinary manner as forexample by sewing or riveting the two thickness of webbing together. Theother end 1S is passed through the buckle frame inside of the end bar Sand in front of the toothed or biting edge of the sliding bar 12. 1f inthe wafy, this sliding bar may be pushed in by pressing upon the outeredge of the linger bar 16. then the end 1S is pulled through the frameas .far as may be desired it is passed down through the frame betweenthe 'middle bar 10 and end bar 9, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, thereby'firmly securing the said end within the buckle. The more the webbing ispulled the harder the sliding bar will hold the webbing against the edgeof the end bar 8. 1n order to detach the end 1S it is only necessary topull it out from one end of the frame and then pull on the end of thewebbing to move the sliding bar back out of engagement. The webbing as arule may then be pulled out of the frame but if it catches on thewebbing the sliding bar may be pushed back to free the webbing bypressing inwardly on the 'finger bar .1 6.

By my improvement 1 produce an inexpensive buckle of a very con'lpact orflat form, and one that is very convenient to operate as well asellicient in action.

l. claim as my invention :-w

.l. ln a buckle, the combination of a sliding bar with a buckle frameformed of a piece of sheet metal doubled upon itself, the said piece ofmetal being practically two frames each having side bars, a middle barand an end bar, which bars are brought substantially together in thecompleted frame while one end bar is common to the said two frames,thereby forming one end bar, the middle bar and the two side bars of thecompleted frame of two thicknesses while one end bar is of only onethickness, the said sliding bar being arranged to slide within the saidside bars to and from that end bar which is of a single thickness only.

2. ln a buckle, the combination of a slidin bar in the form of a slottedplate -having a finger bar at the outer edge thereof, with a buckleframe formed of a piece of sheet metal doubled upon itself to form sidebars having ways for the said sliding bar to move in, and with thedoubled over portion of the said side bars in position to be engaged bythe outer edge of the said sliding bar to prevent the said bar frombeing pulled out of the frame.

3. In a buckle, the combination of a sliding bar ofy a plate like formwith a buckle frame formed of a piece of sheet metal doubled upon itselfto form side bars of two thicknesses with a space between the said twothicknesses for receiving and guiding the sliding bar and bent up sideflanges at the outer edges of the said side bars for retaining the saidplate-like bar within the said place.

4. ln a buckle, the combination of a sliding bar with a buckle frameformed of a piece of sheet metal doubled upon itself to forrn side barsof two thicknesses with a space for the slide between them, bent up sideflanges at the outer edge of the said side bars and holding lugs formedon one thickness of the bars and bent over the other thickness forholding the two thicknesses together.

ERNEST N. HUMPHREY.

Witnesses:

STANLEY PARKER, SADIE L. FINNIGAN.

